Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberly and Austin Siefmund-Broka

Summary from Goodreads:

Megan Harper is the girl before. All her exes find their one true love right after dating her. It’s not a curse or anything, it’s just the way things are, and Megan refuses to waste time feeling sorry for herself. Instead, she focuses on pursuing her next fling, directing theatre, and fulfilling her dream school’s acting requirement in the smallest role possible.

But her plans quickly crumble when she’s cast as none other than Juliet–yes, that Juliet–in her high school’s production. It’s a nightmare. No–a disaster. Megan’s not an actress and she’s certainly not a Juliet. Then she meets Owen Okita, an aspiring playwright who agrees to help Megan catch the eye of a sexy stagehand in exchange for help writing his new script.

Between rehearsals and contending with her divided family, Megan begins to notice Owen–thoughtful, unconventional, and utterly unlike her exes, and wonders: shouldn’t a girl get to play the lead in her own love story?

Review:

What a charming, wonderful debut! I loved this book and ate it up like ice cream. I had a surprise day off when the air conditioning at works stopped working on the hottest day of the year. And after a very hot, stressful morning, I went home and read this book in one cool, central a/c sitting. Seriously though, this book has all the makings of Jenny Han, Stephanie Perkins, and Becky Albertalli. It’s YA contemporary gold.

There’s a main character who’s openly flirty and confident in her sexuality! Yes. Finally, a main character who’s not afraid of relationships. Yes, I relate to the teen girls who are hesitant and afraid because I was…but it’s so refreshing to have a confident, flirty heroine too.

I loved all the theater drama (aka: the hookups, parties, love triangles, etc). It was like catnip for me. Add in the spunky, confidant Megan, and I was hooked from page 1. I love that friendships were more if not equally important to Megan as her romantic relationships. She worked so hard to keep things going with her best friend. And I loved that she was so close to her ex even though he pretty much explains that she is the one who really made him realize he’s gay. She fights for her friends. And she fights with them. Everything about this felt so real.

I loved watching Megan become Juliette and excel at acting too. She deserved to be center stage sometimes too. And I loved that the people in her life wanted her to have that spotlight. I found the family drama interesting too. It may have been the only part of the book I felt needed a little more time…but still I was hooked on that too.

And I loved the romance. I loved Owen. I shipped them from the beginning. I love romances that start off in the friend zone. I loved their banter and open communication. I love that they both could tease each other and knew just what to say to embarrass one another. I loved them. All in all, this is the perfect binge-worthy summer contemporary romance. And I’m so glad I picked this up when I did. I give it a 10/10.